AuthorTopic: Building the CalderCraft Imara (Read 92572 times)

Today I soldered the SMD LEDs for the interior lights and the red and green navigation lights. The latter are the smallest pieces of electronics that I ever have put a soldering iron to With only 3 x 1,5 mm they are rather tiny and delicate indeed. I used 0,3 mm enameled copper wire for the connection. It's considerably sturdier than the 0,1 mm wire that I had to use for the mast lights, but I will still be a ble to conceal it well inside the structure.This gives a total of 5 lights for the cabins and bridge (two warm white interior lights, one warm white light inside the binnacle, and one red and green position light, respectively.

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Yes, they are, aren't they? They are only about half as "big" as the warm white ones. Didn't realize it until I started soldering the other day. But now this is done and I glued the stairs and railing into place. Next up is the woodwork for the bridge.As a side project, I started weathering some fender tires. They're still fresh and shiny, this will not do I will apply several coats of Deadflat from the Rustall set until they look old and worn and then work my way up from there with rust, moss, stains, and what not.

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Some more work done: For the lamp wires, I milled channels into the lower part of the bridge deck. This will ensure that I can glue the top part of the deck flush onto it. At least that is the intention. I must confess that I didn't think this completely through. But I will deal with the wires once I have all of the parts ready The lower part of the deck is now also filled, primed and painted white. Although it takes ages with the airbrush, it gives a neat finish. And I can paint no matter what the weather outside.The boxes for the position lights are also assembled, sanded, filled, primed and painted white. Next off will be painting the inside red and green, respectively. The railing boards for the bridge are filled, sanded and glazed. The fender wheels got a coat of flat and some dirt pigments. Not yet finished as I intend to experiment with some washes (rust, moss, dirt).

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

I used Vallejo liquid mask to protect the edges of the position light boxes before airbrushing the insides red / green. I had no previous experience with this stuff safe for a youtube tutorial. It turned out well enough, but i still had to amend a couple of spots where the color managed to penetrate the rim. Still, it's a nice option to have for masking difficult areas.All they need now is a small hole for the wires and a coat of varnish.

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Test running the position lights and flush-mounting the wires for all the lamps. Binnacle is now glued to the bridge deck and its wires will also fit the groove in the board below.After that it's all clamps on deck; the two pieces of the bridge deck are joined with the wires sandwiched in between.

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

A new batch of white metal parts plus the 3D-printed upper water tank are now ready for priming and painting. I also made a couple of lampshades for the kitchen and the wardroom.The telegraphs need some dials - I sketched them up in Inkscape and printed them. The dials are rather tiny, but at least "STOP" and a couple of other signs are still legible I wish I would have made the same with the compass rose Too late for that now.

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Hi Dom, Sorry to disappoint you, these are DVM's (Digital Volt Meters) to check the voltage of the port and starboard batteries. The one on the left hand side checks the output voltage of the UBEC for the Rx..

Some more painting and weathering done: lampshades, telegraphs, helm, upper water tank with some rather rusty plumbing. Also a piece of brass tube with copper finish. This will contain the wires and will run inside the cabin.

Dom

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Bridge railing cut and glued. Unfortunately the glue didn't hold the one corner in place (me taking off the duct tape too early may also have been part of the problem )Will have to tear it apart and firmly glue in place again.The rail on top will once again be 3D printed and is already work in progress. Also in preparation are the six pillars that will support the bridge deck.

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Voila, the bridge railing from the 3D printer. After sanding and glazing I glued it to the balustrade along with the decorative strip.The four brass pillars will support the bridge deck. I wrapped the connection with copper wire and added a drop of superglue to hold everything in place. The white parts of the bridge deck still need some touching up. Also still to-do are the doors to the captain's lair and the kitchen.

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan

Thank you! The propellers are 75 mm four bladed - they're what Krick recommend on their web page for steam propulsion.If you're going with electric motors, they're recommending 65 mm three bladed.Can't say much about them so far, though. Only had her running in the tub once so far But they produced lots of wash when pushed.

Dom

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We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. Carl Sagan